DEMAS. – Disciple of St Paul, mentioned in II Tim. 4:10 with an uncomplimentary remark: “D. has abandoned me out of love for the present age, and has gone to Thessalonica.” The name (Δηλᾶς) may be an abbreviation of Δημήτριος. From the not excessively harsh tone used by Paul, it seems possible to infer that D. was not an apostate. In any event, he was a victim of fear, or rather of concern for temporal interests. In this second hypothesis, the “present age” (ὁ οὖν αἰών) must signify the world of commerce and wealth. D. loved it to the point of abandoning Paul as a prisoner when a sentence unfavorable to the Apostle might be expected imminently. Perhaps he went to Thessalonica either because he was a native of that city or because he had commercial interests there. D. had also been at Paul’s side during the first Roman imprisonment: he is mentioned in Col. 4:14, in comparison with Luke, in a very laconic manner, by name alone. In Philem. 24, however, together with Mark, Aristarchus, and Luke, he receives the title of co-worker (συνεργός).
J. Chapman thought that D. should be identified with the Demetrius who is honorably mentioned in III Io. 12; whereas, according to V. Bartlet, he was the silversmith of Ephesus who was converted (cf. J. Chaine, Les épîtres catholiques, Paris 1939, pp. 239, 258). In the first case, one would have to suppose that D. made a generous return to apostolic life, contrary to the opinion of Epiphanius (Haer., LI, 6; PG 41, 897), who numbers D. among the heretics. In the Acts of Paul and Thecla, 1. 4. 12. 14 (ed. L. Vouaux, Paris 1913, pp. 146, 152, 170, 172), he is presented, together with Hermogenes, as a hypocrite and jealous of Paul.